Chapter 100 - Name and Reality 23 {Solo 41} (91–93 Higashidate Interrogation 1)
"Apparently, there were 16 executives from both the Shiun Association and the Sunpu Group there at the time. Among the 17 casualties thought to have been in the office, excluding the missing person, the other two besides the executives were low-ranking members of the Shiun Association. It's practically a total wipeout. Then there's the one missing person, but since all the low-ranking members are still alive for now, the missing one is likely a Shiun executive."
"That's truly horrific. And what's the breakdown of the executives?"
"Well... according to the information I have now, for the Shiun Association, 8 out of all 9 executives, including the chairman, are dead. For the Sunpu Group, 6 out of 7 executives, including the boss, are dead, and one is unconscious with full-body burns and is in critical condition. As for the missing person, they apparently found 'parts of a body that look like it,' so the death toll for the remaining Shiun executive will likely increase... And among the rank-and-file, one is seriously injured and one is unconscious..."
No matter how much the targets were an illegal group, it didn't change the fact that it was gruesome. However, immediately after that, Nishida heard unexpected words from Sudo.
"Not just our NPA Organized Crime Department, but of course the fire department, the local organized crime and arson squads, and even the Metropolitan Police Department (T/N: honchou) organized crime and arson squads, plus even the Foreign Affairs and Public Security divisions from our NPA Security Bureau are all scrambled together—well, the scene is in a huge mess. Our investigation isn't going as planned, and the information is fragmentary..."
"Even the Security Bureau?"
To the surprised Nishida, Sudo replied:
"Seriously! Why would I lie?"
"While the possibility of an accident is high, it's not so strange for Organized Crime to move since it's a yakuza office, but it's a bit bizarre for the Security Bureau to be involved."
"It is bizarre, but it's not like it's completely out of their field. Both the Shiun Association and Sunpu have connections with North Korea. So, it's not like it's completely unrelated, but even so..."
"North Korea!?"
Nishida instinctively reacted to the sudden word.
"Oh? Nishida-san, you already had information that both organizations have abundant funds from their meth business, right?"
Having been told this much, he finally understood the situation.
"I see! The source of the meth is North Korean-made!"
"Exactly! Originally, the Shiun Association had a Zainichi North Korean executive posing as a Zainichi Korean, and through that connection, they had ties and an acquisition route with North Korea. And since the previous tops of both the Shiun Association and the Sunpu Group were close, the Sunpu Group also quickly gained connections with North Korea. So they have strong ties with both the North Korean government and the military, and I think they came out assuming the worst related to that... Even so, for the Security Bureau, which hasn't come out in the open until now, to suddenly appear through the 'front door' for this accident or incident is quite strange even from our perspective."
Even though it was over the phone, the sense that he found it quite questionable came through.
"That said, they must have been doing things like internal investigations until now, right?"
"Information from Foreign Affairs almost never reaches us, so I don't know about their past investigations, but even if they grasped it, they just let them swim. There's no point in doing crackdowns through diplomatic routes with the North, with whom we have no diplomatic relations... No, no, in the first place, that country itself is making the meth... So, for the parts done in Japan, the Narcotics Control Department (MHLW) or the guys in our department's Firearms and Drug Countermeasures are the ones who actually bust them; they're probably just gathering information."
"Then, the fact that they suddenly appeared in such a conspicuous way this time means it's truly incomprehensible even if there's a connection to North Korea."
"That's right."
Having heard that much, Nishida asked for Sudo's own interpretation.
"What do you think about it, Section Chief Sudo?"
He was silent for a while as if thinking, but then he prefaced his answer:
"It's just something I overheard a bit..."
He continued with a hesitant tone.
"Actually, it seems they might be moving on instructions from the Prime Minister's Official Residence... Remember the suspicious ship problem that was likely North Korean at the end of last year? That might be related. Anyway, there's no way the secretive Security Bureau would leak detailed information to us... but I heard from my boss that the higher-ups were saying something like that... Oh, just to be safe, the boss I'm talking about isn't Shimomura, whom I met the other day."
Certainly, on December 22, 2001, there was an incident where a suspicious ship, seen as a North Korean spy ship, had a gunfight with the Coast Guard and blew itself up and sank. Sudo seemed to think it might have something to do with that.
And there was also a strong theory that the suspicious ship was involved in smuggling stimulants into Japan. This was because footage of something being thrown into the sea just before the self-detonation had been filmed by the Coast Guard (Author's Note: It was after the suspicious ship was raised and evidence was seized on September 11, 2002, that the government officially certified it as a North Korean spy ship and its full nature was elucidated).
"The Official Residence and North Korea. What does that mean?"
Nishida pressed him on that point.
"Well, I wonder if there's some new movement in the relationship with North Korea... We don't have diplomatic relations, but maybe there's some kind of negotiation. We only have a vague idea, so I can't tell you anything more based on just speculation."
To Nishida, it seemed as if Sudo was slightly disparaging their own position.
Since no more information came out, he said he would wait for the next contact and ended the conversation. Then, Nishida tried to grasp the overall picture of the timing of this incident, the view of it being a gas leak accident, and the movements of the unrelated Security Bureau and the Official Residence, but as expected, he couldn't pull it all together. There was no point in thinking further as no answer would come, and it was clearly a waste of time, so he returned from the hallway to the waiting room.
There, he checked Yoshimura's expression, but he only shook his head slightly; it seemed there was no progress on that side either. Nishida, who had ended up with two troublesome matters at once, faced the night without being able to fully concentrate on either.
Then, this time, a call came from Takeshita. Nishida had been hesitating whether to rely on Takeshita's information as a journalist, so it was a perfectly timed contact.
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As expected, Takeshita had called because he already knew that the Shiun Association office had exploded, and since it was Kagami's former office, he felt something ominous. However, since he naturally knew nothing about Higashidate's arrest, he had no more recognition of the Sunpu Group, which was caught in it, than that they were simply involved.
"It seems to be a gas leak, but it's not related to that case, is it?"
Takeshita pressed him, and Nishida had no choice but to give an ambiguous answer. Needless to say, Takeshita sensed this.
That said, since he hadn't called for an interview but out of concern as a former investigator, it wasn't an interrogation but a light, probing question, asking to be told only what could be said.
"From the gas leak, it seems like an accident, but is there something that makes it not quite certain?"
"No, it seems like an accident for now, but the movement seems to be at a level beyond our imagination."
Nishida honestly wanted to tell him about Higashidate but restrained himself.
"Does that mean departments (T/N: tokoro) that wouldn't normally be considered are out on the investigation?"
Takeshita instantly saw through what Nishida wanted to say.
"Well, to put it bluntly, that's it. Do you have any information, Takeshita?"
To Nishida's question, he replied:
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm working at a local branch in Hokkaido! Well, even so, I did check with Igarashi-san in Tokyo at noon, but he only said that Organized Crime was moving because it's a yakuza office, despite the high possibility of an accident. Well, even though it's the Tokyo branch, unfortunately, it's a local paper, so it seems they haven't been able to do any deep reporting yet, as of now."
"Even the journalist Igarashi in Tokyo is only at that level..."
Nishida was a bit disappointed. Takeshita had been humble, but the Doho was a newspaper that boasted one of the largest circulations for a local paper in Japan and should have a decent reporting network in Tokyo and Kansai, so he had a thought that maybe they would know something.
"When you put it that way, it makes me even more curious."
Takeshita laughed, but then said:
"Well, the fact that Nishida-san is hesitant means there's probably quite a bit of information you can't say yet, so maybe it's better to hear it when you can? You seem busy."
After uttering a line that seemed to read Nishida's state of mind perfectly, he said, "Well then, I'll call you again when the time is right," and hung up. The "withdrawal" was quite fast, which was actually contrary to Nishida's expectations, but he had no choice since the other party was being considerate.
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Friday, June 28th. Nishida finally participated directly in the interrogation of Higashidate. That said, it was on the instructions of Criminal Investigation Director Koyabu rather than Nishida's own decision. For Nishida, it wasn't a bad proposal, but when he thought of his subordinates and the investigators at the Kitami Station, he had somewhat complex feelings.
Since the results of the voiceprint analysis had come in last night just as the previous day's interrogation was ending, they could conduct the hearing based on that information and involve the contents of the tapes. Koyabu might have given the instruction out of a desire to settle things all at once. However, the fact that the hearing had become easier than for the investigators involved until now added to Nishida's feeling of being sorry for them.
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Higashidate, whom he faced directly along with Yoshimura, felt unexpectedly more likeable than the audacity he had seen through the one-way mirror from the waiting room, but he immediately began to show an attitude that he was neither to be boiled nor fried.
In the previous hearings, Kusaka and the others had talked about Higashidate's birth and his life until now. However, given the initial situation, Nishida started from a different angle that day. He intended to save the talk about the voiceprints for later.
"I hear you're from Otsuchi in Iwate."
"You guys are persistent... I've been told that story so many times since Sendai that I'm sick of it... The story of a good-for-nothing old man who did nothing but drink from midday and wouldn't work, my mother who endured it, and me and my brother who couldn't get a proper education—a common, unhappy yakuza story. I don't intend to use it as an excuse, and I don't want your sympathy!"
He raised his gaze to the upper left corner of the ceiling and replied in a dismissive tone, but with unexpectedly detailed content.
"Fine. However, I looked at the materials about your father, and it seems he was once a skilled fisherman. But it seems he suddenly became a drunkard at some point. You were born in June 1959. But on the evening of May 23, 1960, a great tsunami caused by a major earthquake in Chile the previous day struck the Sanriku coast. Naturally, I've heard that Otsuchi also suffered great damage (Author's Note: Reference site http://tsunami-dl.jp/document/063). It's just my speculation, but didn't your father's life turn to crap because things were so hard after the tsunami? If so, I think it's a bit much to blame only your father's character..."
"Even if you say that... the unhappiness for the person actually dealing with it is different from how it looks from the outside. It's true my mother said he became strange after the boat was washed away, as you say, but there's no point in saying that to me..."
"That's true. It's as you say."
Nishida dared to agree with the opponent's opinion quite easily.
"But you're quite knowledgeable for a detective, talking about the Chile tsunami."
"Well, there are things I've had to look into for investigations of past cases."
"Hmm. A detective investigating tsunamis, huh."
Higashidate said this and snorted.
Perhaps the interrogation method was fresh, as Higashidate was staring at Nishida and Yoshimura quite a bit. On top of that, Nishida quietly began his pursuit.
"By the way, you might find this tedious since you've been asked several times, but you left the group at the beginning of '96, right? What was the reason for leaving the yakuza you'd been with for many years?"
To this question, he remained silent as before.
"You probably know this since you've already been asked various things, but your departure from the group was about two months after the car theft for which you were arrested. Is there any connection?"
Having said that much, he checked his expression for a moment, but he could read nothing from Higashidate's face. Having no choice, Nishida acted as if he had given up.
"Well, it's your way to stay silent, so I know you're not the kind of guy (T/N: tama) who will change just because I yell at you. But, the more you stay silent, the more I can't help but think there's something there. Please understand that. It's been bothering me all this time."
When he acted out this complaint, Higashidate opened his mouth.
"Well, if it's my freedom to stay silent, it's your freedom to think whatever you want, so I don't care, but do you have time to be obsessing over such things?"
"No, as you say, maybe I shouldn't be obsessing over it. But we already know all about your involvement in the theft, so we want to take down the bigger, higher case. That's why we need to ask various things."
This time, he even blurred the reason for the investigation while conveying it, watching Higashidate's reaction. Of course, his direct involvement in the theft was also somewhat questionable.
"Well, then do as you like! Time will just keep being wasted."
At Higashidate's scoffing, Nishida thought it was indeed a reaction born of wanting to hide something. At the same time, he felt that specifically drawing it out would be no ordinary feat.
As they repeated such things, although Nishida wasn't particularly playing the role of the pacifier, Yoshimura, as if he couldn't wait any longer, spoke up as the pursuer.
"The fact that you were at the scene of the shooting at the time has been proven by your voice on a tape that was recorded by chance."
The moment he heard this statement, Higashidate could not hide his agitation. To Nishida, the timing seemed early, but it was too late to complain now.
"Recording? What's that? Bluffs won't work on me!"
At the word "bluff," Nishida felt Higashidate's panic.
"It's not a bluff. Listen to this."
Yoshimura instructed the investigator in charge of records to play the audio of the conversation between Higashidate and Kagami from the computer he was using. Higashidate's eyes rolled, and he became unable to say anything. As if to deliver a follow-up blow, Yoshimura shouted:
"The voiceprint analysis also shows that there are statements in this that match your voiceprint. In other words, you were at the scene of the shooting and murder at Kitami Kyoritsu Hospital at the time! To put it more bluntly, you are the perpetrator! Even scientifically, you can't talk your way out of it! Including your hair left in the getaway vehicle, your crime can be established even if you remain silent! That's all there is to it!"
To Higashidate, who was clearly at a loss for words at this point, Nishida also delivered a gentle follow-up blow.
"It's checkmate, isn't it? Theft alone won't explain it."
However, Higashidate seemed to have made up his mind again from here.
"If you're that confident, then do as you like. I'll leave it to you guys."
Whether it was a bluff or not, he smiled and locked eyes with the two men in front of him. Nishida thought he had already prepared himself for the indictment for his own murder, but he also seemed to foresee that the real target lay beyond that. In this short time, his psychology had moved like a roller coaster from agitation to resolve. And that was likely a part he couldn't easily open his mouth about.
"You and Kagami killed three people by firing handguns in Kitami, a place you had no connection to. Neither you nor Kagami look like the type to go that far based on your past (records). Just what on earth happened to make you come all the way to Kitami and end up doing something like that?"
Yoshimura cursed Higashidate with the common gesture of slamming his fist on the desk.
"I don't know!"
"There's no way you don't know!"
Yoshimura shouted, but in the end, even though bringing up the voiceprint results and the existence of the tape might have had the effect of a sumo 'cat-deception' (T/N: nekodamashi), it failed to push the opponent out of the ring, and they seemed to have returned to a stalemate. Unfortunately, it would be useless to keep pushing further. Nishida immediately changed his approach slightly.
"By the way, about Kagami, who was with you... You said the reason you knew his name was because of the news that he was killed. Was that a lie just to skillfully cover up the fact that you knew Kagami, or did you really see it on the news? Since your involvement is already obvious from the voiceprints and tapes I mentioned earlier even if you stay silent, why don't you at least tell me that much? There's no point in snitching on an accomplice when the other party is dead, and as you know, he's already been formally referred as being involved in the crime, even though he was ultimately not prosecuted. There's not a single reason to hold back now. How about it?"
Hearing this, Higashidate stared at Nishida for a moment, and after a brief, faint smile appeared, he said with a serious face:
"I really saw it, so what can I do?"
As for the reason he knew Kagami, he didn't directly admit to the involvement in the crime itself, just like before, but he emphasized that he had seen it on the news. Since Kagami and Higashidate were accomplices, the only way he could have not known Kagami's name before he died and it was in the news was if they had committed the crime without ever introducing themselves to each other. Also, since it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment crime, that possibility was quite low, and it was impossible that the first time he heard Kagami's name was in a news report. However, Nishida guessed that it was true he had seen the news.
On top of that, was seeing the news truly a coincidence? Or had some contact come from around the Sunpu Group he had left, saying that his accomplice Kagami was dead? He was curious about that. So, Nishida wanted to delve deeper into the talk around that and changed the perspective of the conversation. However, the answer was unfortunately the same as before. Having no choice, he changed the subject again.
"What was the reason you left the Sunpu Group? Did you mess up?"
"I just wanted to become a civilian (T/N: katagi). I could see the future of being a yakuza. That's all."
"Had you been thinking that for a while?"
"Yeah, for a few years before I left the group..."
"It's hard to leave a group, isn't it?"
"Generally, yes. In my case, a senior brother I was indebted to worked hard for me, so it wasn't that difficult."
"Is that senior brother in a high position?"
"Yeah, he was already in a decent position in the group."
As for the possibility that involvement in the murder was a condition for leaving the group, Nishida also thought that given the risk of "exposure" if they let someone who knew about such a dangerous case go free, it was almost impossible for this case. Looking at Higashidate's state at this time, he also intuitively sensed that it was likely not directly related to the case.
Of course, there are cases where such a dangerous mission becomes a condition for leaving a group, but since this case had the potential to reach "far above," the standard approach should be to avoid letting him go free and keep him close at hand.
"So, what's his name? Did you hear about the Kagami matter from him?"
"Name? I won't say it because I don't want to cause unnecessary trouble."
At this moment, Higashidate glared slightly at Nishida. However, the fact that he didn't deny hearing about Kagami's death could not be overlooked.